


Stargazing

by BabylonsFall



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Family Fluff, Fluff, Interior Decorating, Kinda, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:47:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21776236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabylonsFall/pseuds/BabylonsFall
Summary: A quiet day off for the Diaz-Buckley household - and Eddie couldn't be happier. Now if only Buck and Chris would actually tell him what their surprise is, that'd be great.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Comments: 11
Kudos: 244





	Stargazing

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I have no excuse. I wanted fluff. I wrote more fluff.
> 
> Thank you very much to [Nilshki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nilshki) for the beta!
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy!

Eddie’s in a...weird mood.

Not a bad one, definitely not.

Hell, something absolutely tragic would have to happen for that to be the case. It’s one of the rare days where his, Buck’s and Chris’ schedules line up - he’s off for the next two days, Buck’s off until tomorrow morning, and it’s Sunday, so Chris doesn’t have school.

They don’t get time like this a whole lot. Bobby tries - but Eddie’s not the only parent, and Buck’s not the only one with a significant other. It’s a balancing act that Eddie wouldn’t wish on anyone, but Bobby tries, and he gives them what he can while giving everyone else (and himself, by Athena’s discretion, finally) the same.

Still, it’s hard not to savor days like this when they get them.

He and Buck had dropped Chris off at his abuela’s for breakfast that morning so they could go for a run around the park. They went to pick him up maybe two hours later, only to end up leaving another hour after that when his abuela had insisted that they stay and get some breakfast too. Buck’s never been able to say no to the woman, and his abuela damn well knows it - she’s not subtle in the least when she’s hugging Buck and grinning over his shoulder at Eddie.

After that, they had run the only real errand they absolutely couldn’t put off - grocery shopping. They’d eaten cereal for dinner last night, and while Chris hadn’t minded in the least (kids, man), both him and Buck had taken one look at the sad state of the cabinets and fridge and come to the decision at about the same moment.

For all that grocery shopping with two other people could be a pain and a half, they’d found a pretty decent rhythm not too long ago. Either he or Buck would take Chris and go get all the little things that could fit in a basket, while the other powered through the rest of the list. Both had a bad habit of regularly sneaking in snacks and treats Eddie normally wouldn’t buy but...well, they thought they were sneaky. And Eddie didn’t have the heart to ruin their fun. And, to be honest, he did it himself plenty of times too, when he had the cart to himself. Buck had given him a smug grin the first time he’d seen the bag of chocolate hidden under the vegetables.

This time, the trip was pretty short - essentials for the week mostly, if they needed more before the next weekend, there were a couple off days where one of them could go - with Eddie manning the main cart and Buck and Chris wandering off to get more cereal.

They came back a little while later, when Eddie was almost done, looking...well, excited. And secretive. And Buck wouldn’t let him see what was in the basket, while Chris was giggling at his side. When he’d asked, all Buck had said was “It’s a surprise, man.”

And then Chris had chimed in with an “It’s a surprise dad!” all earnest and genuinely excited, and Eddie couldn’t push after that. Instead, he’d laughed and held up his hands in defeat before heading down the aisle towards the register.

He didn’t miss the high five Buck gave Chris either.

The rest of the day had been...pretty mellow, honestly. They’d gotten home, unloaded the groceries, and then plopped down in the living room to play with the seven different lego bins scattered around.

There wasn’t a whole lot of productivity after that, but it was fun, and Eddie’d do just about anything to hear his boys laughing like they were, so, all in all? A pretty damn good day.

Now though.

Again. Weird mood. Not bad. Just...weird.

Eddie mentioned something about making dinner, and Buck and Chris had immediately looked to each other, then back to him. “Do you need help with that?” Buck had asked which Eddie found odd. The two of them generally cooked together these days, when they got the chance. Sure, half the time it went from ‘cooking’ to ‘making out against the bar until Chris asked when dinner would be ready’ but still. Why would he- oh.

“...Lemme guess, something to do with the ‘surprise’ from earlier?” Eddie asked, grinning slightly when both of them lit up.

“Yep. Shouldn’t take too long.” Buck said, glancing at Chris, “What do you think little man? An hour? We can add more later too.”

“Yeah!” Chris shouts, pushing himself to his feet with a helping hand from Buck and heading for his room. Buck grins after him before glancing back at Eddie. And yeah, this is all weird, and by now, Eddie’s curious as hell, but looking at Buck sitting there, crosslegged, surrounded by legos, and absolutely beaming at him, all he can do is shake his head and lean over to press a kiss to his cheek before getting up himself to head to the kitchen. “Better hurry. Dinner’ll be ready by the time you two’re done with whatever it is you’re doing.”

Buck just laughs before taking off after Chris.

After that, all Eddie can hear from Chris’ room is giggling, from both of them, and hushed whispers.

So, yeah. Weird mood.

And it takes the whole hour he spends making spaghetti for the two of them, and fish sticks for Chris, for it to click what the mood actually is.

Contentment. With a dash of curiosity.

The feeling sits warm and heavy in his chest, unintrusive and soft - filling him up so much that he’d had to step quietly aside himself just to get a good look at it.

He’s cooking dinner at home for his two favorite people, after spending the whole day with them doing absolutely nothing, who are now down the hall laughing and enjoying whatever it is they’re doing, all with the intent to surprise him and he...he just…

The corners of his eyes burn a little bit, but Eddie’s pretty sure it’s just ‘cause he’s standing too close to the boiling pot.

True to their word, both are at the table an hour later, just in time for the fish sticks to come out of the oven, and the spaghetti to be done cooking. They both look so proud of themselves, Chris still laughing to himself and Buck just beaming at him.

They still won’t tell him what the surprise is. And when Eddie suggests he can just go look before dinner, Chris says he has to wait until bedtime with such a serious face that Eddie gives up then and there. What’s another hour anyway?

Dinner’s a soft affair, once Buck and Chris calm down - they both talk with Chris about school, and then he turns the attention back to them and they tell him about some of their tamer calls, or, at least, edit the more intense ones. There’s mellow laughter and soft smiles, and Eddie feels like his chest is absolutely burning.

Buck and Chris clean up after dinner, shooing Eddie into the living room to pick the movie for the night. Chris has got about an hour, hour and a half before bedtime, so he picks the first disney movie he can find - Lilo and Stitch.

Soon enough, the three of them are on the couch, Chris tucked snugly between the two of them, and Buck’s arm around the couch behind him to rest on Eddie’s shoulder like that’s just where it belongs, and that wave of...of _contentment_ just slams into him again, about the time Stitch is learning how to surf.

He sniffles, wiping slightly at his eyes, and when Buck shoots him a concerned look over Chris’ head, he just smiles and shakes his head. Buck doesn’t look like he totally believes him, but instead of pushing it, he just squeezes Eddie’s shoulder and goes back to watching the movie.

By the time Stitch is saying “This is my family, I found it all on my own,” Chris is out like a light between them. They all have an early morning ahead of them - Eddie making sure Chris gets to school on time, and Buck heading in for his shift - so the executive decision is made to turn in for the night.

Eddie scoops up Chris, laughing softly when he gets a mumble of “I’m awake…” before his little head is resting against his shoulder again.

Buck grins at them, leaning over to press a kiss first to Chris’ forehead, then to Eddie’s. Eddie huffs at him to hide a smile, gently pushing past to head down the hall.

While getting Chris ready for bed, he wakes up enough to insist on at least one bedtime story, and Eddie’s never been one to say no to a bedtime story, no matter how sure he is that Chris is going to conk out before the third page. He gets Chris set up in bed, grabbing one of the Dr. Seuss books stacked on the nightstand. Chris surprises him and makes it through the entire book - but only just.

Eddie smiles and puts the book away, gently tucking Chris in a little more firmly before leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead. “Good night, buddie.”

“G’night daddy…” Is the sleepy murmur he gets back before heads for the door, only for Chris to startle slightly right before he flicks off the lights, “Wai-Wait, dad! Turn off the lights!” Eddie blinks, but does as he’s told, waiting for whatever it is Chris is so excited about.

Eddie doesn’t notice them immediately. It could be because he’s focusing on Chris, or because it takes his eyes a long moment to adjust to the sudden dark.

When he does though, he kind of just...blinks.

The first real thought that hits him is that he’s pretty impressed with just how many they’d managed to stick to the ceiling in half an hour. The second thought...isn’t really a thought.

It’s a laugh, bubbling up from deep in his chest. He carefully makes his way back over to Chris’ bed, crouching down so he can look up at them with him.

Stars. Green, glow in the dark stars. All different sizes. And it looks random at first, but eventually, Eddie’s able to pick out some of the more recognizable constellations, in different corners of the room. “Wow...you and Buck did all this?”

“Yeah…” Chris says around a big yawn, too excited to settle down, too sleepy to really get back up. “Buck saw them at the grocery store. Said they were cool.”

“He was right, huh?”

And Chris nods, giggling sleepily to himself, clearly still delighted with the whole thing, and Eddie can’t blame him. He grins, leaning over to press another kiss to his forehead. “You guys did a good job.”

“Thanks daddy…” and then he’s out and Eddie has to bite back a laugh so as not to wake him up again. Kids, man.

Standing, he takes one more moment in the dark to take in the ceiling. It’s cheesy. Goofy. Delightful. Wonderful.

And oh, his heart _burns_.

He carefully tiptoes back out of Chris’ room, gently closing the door behind him. The house is quiet now, the living room dark. It’s not too hard to figure out where Buck probably is - and, sure enough, when he peeks into their room, Buck’s propped up in bed, flicking through something on his phone. When he hears the door, he glances up, grinning at Eddie, “So, Chris go down okay?”

And Eddie snorts out a laugh, “Uh-huh. Finally saw the surprise too.” And Buck’s still trying for goofy, but his smile is soft again, earnest and sweet. “How in the hell did you get that many up in an hour? Let alone in like...recognizable shapes.” And Buck blinks at him, then laughs.

“Man, that’s what my ceiling looked like, from like...age nine until I moved out. I mean, the stars kinda started fading when I was like fifteen, but I still kept ‘em up.” Eddie grins and heads to the dresser, just listening while he changes for bed. “Maddie got ‘em for me, you know? I don’t even remember what I’d asked her for. Just that I was going through a space phase. And next thing I know, she’d come back with her first paycheck and this giant bag of ‘em from the dollar store down the block. We spent all night just...putting them up. They had to be in the right shapes - I remember insisting on it, and Maddie just went with it.” And Eddie can picture that way too easily - a tiny, doe-eyed Buck and Maddie folding to those big eyes and that stubborn streak.

“I saw ‘em at the store and just...wanted that for Chris, too, you know?” Buck says, softer now, a thread of something almost like uncertainty in his voice. And Eddie can’t have that. He finishes pulling his t-shirt over his head and slips over to the bed, crawling and settling down next to Buck. Buck immediately curls into his side, one arm thrown over his stomach and his head resting on Eddie’s shoulder. The action is so...thoughtless, so immediate, that Eddie has to breathe for a moment as another wave slams into his chest.

Instead of speaking immediately, he wraps one arm around Buck’s shoulder, and with his free hand, he takes Buck’s hand from where it’s resting by his side, lifting it up to press a kiss to his knuckles - feels Buck relax against him with a soft breath. “They looked great. And Chris was so excited about them...he’s probably gonna be excited about them for the next little while too, so hope you’re prepared to hear about it every free moment he gets.” And he feels more than hears Buck laugh against him.

“I’m good with that.” Buck says, voice lilting sleepy as the day and the warmth of their bed catches up with him.

Humming softly, Eddie presses a kiss into his hair before letting go of him only enough to lean over to the switch by the bed to flick off the lights. It’s not a huge movement, but Buck’s arms latch around him with a whine that Eddie’s only fifty percent is for show. Eddie laughs and settles back down as soon as the room goes dark.

Eddie doesn’t notice them immediately. Maybe it’s because his eyes are already drooping. Or maybe it’s because his sleepy eyes don’t want to focus in the sudden dark.

Stars. Green, glow in the dark stars. Right above their bed.

“...Buck?” He asks, soft and quiet.

“Hm?” Comes the sleepy reply.

“Did you happen to have some extra stars?” Eddie asks, laughter coloring his tone low and deep.

“No idea what you’re talking about.”

“Uh-huh. Goodnight Buck.”

“Mm...goodnight Eddie.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it! Comments and kudos are always loved and really, really appreciated.


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